Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he intends to appoint Major General David Zini as director of the Shin Bet.
Zini has served in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, commanded the IDF’s Golani Brigade Battalion 51, founded its the Commando Brigade and lead the Training Command and the General Staff Corps.
He also prepared a report in March 2023 for the head of the Gaza division "on evaluating the deployment of the division in a complex surprise event, with emphasis on surprise raids and marking weak points”.
"In the report's conclusions, Major General Zini wrote that in almost the entire sector, it would be possible to carry out surprise raids against our forces," according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Zini's father is a rabbi of a community in Ashdod and the new Shin Bet head, who reportedly has 11 children, comes from a family of rabbis of Algerian descent.
The move comes despite a prohibition from the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, and a ruling from the Supreme Court yesterday that the sacking of former director Ronen Bar was unlawful.
The firing was the culmination of a very public feud between Bar and Benjamin Netanyahu, including over who should shoulder more of the blame for the October 7 security failings.
In its ruling, the court ruled that the cabinet failed to follow the proper procedure to remove Bar and said the decision lacked “a factual basis” and was made “under a conflict of interest”.
The latter remark is understood to reference the fact that, as director of the agency, Bar was presiding over an investigation into allegations of Qatar-linked corruption relating to Netanyahu’s staff.
Zini has also left his role in the IDF following a meeting with chief of staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.
There had been reports that Zamir had dismissed Zini from his position after being surprised by the announcement, but the IDF has since clarified that he had resigned.
